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Yesterday, the European Parliament voted to ban highly toxic pesticides unless their effects can be proven to be negligible. If endorsed by 27 EU ministers, countries with similar geography and climate could decide
whether farmers may use specific products. This implements an agreement negotiated in December that substantially reduced the number of substances to be banned. December agreement

The EU will list EU-approved
"active substances," excluding 22 ingredients that are classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic
or toxic to reproduction. The chemical "blacklist" includes eight substances used in the
manufacture of herbicides, 11 used in fungicides and three in
insecticides, many of them produced by German chemical giants Bayer and
BASF -- including Ioxynil, Amitrol and Iprodion. That list will provide the basis for national EU governments to approve pesticides nationally or, via mutual recognition with 120 days, in the north, center, and south regions of the EU. Currently, approvals apply only for individual countries and there is no deadline set for mutual recognition approvals.

Already licensed pesticides remain available until their 10-year
authorization expires, avoiding a sudden large-scale
withdrawal of pesticides from the market.

EU countries will be allowed to ban a product, because of specific environment or agricultural circumstances. Also, certain restrictions will be put on pesticide use, including banning most aerial
crop-spraying, strict conditions on pesticides use near aquatic environments and drinking water supplies, and buffer zones requirements around water and protected areas along
roads and railways.